


Together Again

by RandomStuff_7739



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Handplates (Undertale), Babybones (Undertale), Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Mercyplates, Minor Alphys/Undyne (Undertale), Parent Asgore Dreemurr, Parent Toriel (Undertale), Parent W. D. Gaster, Post-Divorce, Pre-Accident W. D. Gaster, Scientist W. D. Gaster, Smoking, Tags May Change, Tumblr Prompt, zarla-s
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2019-08-08
Packaged: 2020-04-07 09:55:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 3,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19082677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RandomStuff_7739/pseuds/RandomStuff_7739
Summary: W.D. Gaster, the current Royal Scientist, never wanted children. So when he appears in the throne room, holding two babybones, everybody is confused.Handplates is by zarla-s, this fic is for TheFallenHuman.





	1. Introductions

**Author's Note:**

> Familyplates fic! This is based off of zarla’s AU of her own AU, and nina-thegamergirl wanted to read something about it, so here I am! Sorry if the chapters are a little short.

Asgore was feeling a mix of several emotions at the moment.

First, he was confused.

Because his current Royal Scientist, who always insisted that he never wanted children, was standing in front of him with two baby skeletons in his arms.

Gaster flushed and began to sign, bringing Asgore back from his thoughts.

_ ”Don’t...don’t just stare, this is very awkward already...” _

“Babies!” Asgore felt like he was going to melt. “Oh my goodness, they’re the most precious, beautiful little miracles i’ve ever seen!”

Gaster’s face flushed deeper red as Asgore went on.

_“They’re...they’re just babies, please, this is embarrassing as it is,”_ Gaster signed, looking a bit as if he wanted to sink into the floor.

Asgore cleared his head a bit before continuing.

“I...You said that you never wanted children. What made you change your mind?” Asgore asked, bringing back his confusion from earlier. Gaster began to sign a response, but stopped himself. He said nothing. Asgore took another look at the young children in Gaster’s arms. One of them was still sleeping, with a smile plastered onto their round skull. They were significantly smaller than the other, who was wide awake and looking at Asgore with curiosity. The child looked very much like Gaster, except for the hollow cheekbones and unblinded eye.

“I thought you were the only skeleton left,” Asgore questioned. “Do you have a partner that I don’t know about?”

Gaster shook his head, still red-faced.

_“You were correct, yes.”_ He signed, looking slightly pained. _“I, and now these two, are the only skeletons left alive.”_

Asgore didn’t know what he expected his Royal Scientist to say. It would’ve been immensely difficult for Gaster to have a relationship with anyone, considering how absorbed he was in his work, nevertheless with a skeleton and in secret as well.

“Could I hold one of them?” Asgore asked in a bit of a hopeful tone. It was impossible for Gaster to refuse, and he handed Asgore the child who was awake and now staring at him. Asgore had that melting feeling again. “They’re so small that they fit into the palm of my hand!”

_“Your majesty, your hands are enormous,”_ Gaster signed, returning slowly to his usual tone. Asgore watched the child reach up at him and felt his eyes tear up slightly. It had been so long since he...

“What are their names?”

Gaster quickly averted his gaze from the small tears in Asgore’s eyes.

_“Sans and Papyrus,”_ he signed. _“Their names are Sans and Papyrus.”_

”But I don’t understand,” Asgore inquired. “If there aren’t any skeletons left, how did you...”

Gaster adjusted his grip on Sans, and answered sharply.

”I don’t want to talk about it—”

Asgore cut off the sentence by taking one of Gaster’s worn and tired hands. He stared at the hole carved into it, so smoothly and perfectly.

“Two babies, two holes. This wasn’t an accident, was it?” Asgore asked gently, his expression softening. “This is what you were truly doing that day.” Gaster almost seemed ashamed of himself. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Gaster pulled his hand away and avoided Asgore’s gaze. He had no response. Asgore doubted that he’d ever have one.


	2. Getting Her Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asgore attempts to find Toriel and get her to come back. Of all people, she had to know what happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn’t expecting to get attention on this thing. Thanks for the kudos, here’s Chapter 2. Handplates belongs to zarla-s.

It had to be this door. It just _had_ to be.

Asgore knew every single person in the Underground personally. Their names, hobbies...where they lived.

So, ruling out the homes of people he knew, the only doors left were the locked ones in Snowdin and the Ruins. And he was quite sure that the locked one in Snowdin hadn’t been opened in several years, considering the fact that it was frozen over.   


So, Ruins it was. He stood at the door nervously. She had to be here. If she wasn’t, she was dead. And if Toriel was dead, then...

Asgore didn’t want to think about that. He cleared his head of his thoughts, and knocked at the door.

“Hello? Are you in there?”

There was no answer. He decided to continue.

“I suppose you wouldn’t answer me even if you were,” he said, a bit sadly. “But, there is something that I must tell you. Something that you must know.” Asgore took a deep, shaky breath. “If you are there, please hear me out. It’s about Gaster.”

Asgore could’ve sworn that he heard a bit of shuffling behind the door.

“I do not know how he did it, but then again, he has always been a genius,” Asgore went on, slowly gaining a bit of confidence. If she was here, she  had to come out. “Gaster has discovered the secret of life...he found a way to have children on his own, without a partner.”

Asgore learned that it was easier to talk with his eyes closed. It was as if there wasn’t a door blocking him and Toriel. It made him feel as if everything was normal.

“Two of them, in fact. Two baby skeletons! Can you imagine, after all this time? I don’t know what drove him to do it. I never thought that he wanted children, and to be honest, he is still very unprepared. I’ve been trying my best to help him care for them, but—“

The door swung open, and would’ve smacked Asgore directly in the face if he hadn’t taken a step back.   


Asgore felt as if he were going to cry.

There she was.

Toriel, after being missing all these years, was back. She was alive, and healthy, and still just as beautiful as before. Her voice was still the same after all these years, soft and gentle. Even if it was laced with a little anger towards him. It took a moment to realize what she had said.

“Where is he?” Toriel questioned, staring Asgore straight in the eyes. “Where are the children?”

Asgore gave her the brightest smile he’d given since his own children were alive.

“Come with me,” Asgore told her cheerfully. “I’ll show you the way.”

Toriel seemed less than thrilled to be with Asgore, but followed anyway.


	3. It’s Really Her

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Somebody’s back, and Gaster isn’t quite sure that he’s not dreaming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s so much fun writing these chapters, even if they are pretty short (sorry). Thanks for all the attention that this fic is getting!

When the front door to his house opened, Gaster nearly dropped Sans and Papyrus.

She was there. Standing right in front of him.

He almost forgot to sign his words in shock.

“...Toriel?”

Toriel gave him a big smile, and rushed over, enveloping Gaster into one of her hugs.

“Oh, WingDings, it’s been too long,” Toriel whispered to him. “I thought I was never going to see you again...”

Gaster couldn’t describe the emotions blazing through his head at the moment.

He wanted so desperately to hug back, but the children in his arms wouldn’t let him. Nevertheless, he felt his SOUL warm. She was  _alive_.  Toriel was alive. It had been so many years. He had missed her every day, accepting that she was gone forever. But she was standing  _right there_ , the smell of butterscotch and cinnamon still coming from her soft white fur, her kind, gentle red eyes still the very same. In just that one moment, it was the warmest and safest and most secure he had felt since he was a child.   


He was almost disappointed when she let go.

“How did you have these children? There aren’t any skeletons left. What made you decide to have a child? What are their names?” Toriel inquired, feeling confused and ecstatic all at once. Gaster had to wait for her to finish, before answering, signing slowly.

“Their names are Papyrus and Sans. I did not have these children with a partner. They were a result of...of a failed project,” he signed, a bit nervously. “They—“

Toriel watching his signing before her eyes went wide and she grabbed one of his hands, nearly pulling it off. He tried pulling it away on instinct, but her grip was too strong. Toriel stared and nearly threw up in her mouth.

“What happened?” She whispered, horrified. “What did you do to yourself while I was gone?”

The hole was so cleanly cut. The other hand was the same. Was this what happened? Were these children a result of his own self-mutilation? Why would Gaster maim himself in such a way, just to have children that he never wanted?

Gaster just looked at the ground. He seemed ashamed of himself.

There was no response.

He didn’t sign anything to her, he didn’t say something to himself in WingDings. Just nothingness. And nothing was much more worrying than any answer she could’ve gotten.


	4. Please Forgive Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asgore asks to be forgiven for the first time out of many more to come. Toriel doesn’t know what to think.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the comments and support this is getting. I really appreciate it.

“Toriel—“

“Enough, Asgore.” Toriel said flatly. Her voice immediately shifted to a kinder tone. “Gaster, dear, could you take Papyrus? I’m going to cook.”

Gaster took Papyrus from Toriel’s arms. Papyrus attempted to reach up and grab his father, and when that failed, he simply nestled into his arms. Gaster pretended not to notice.

_“Your majesty, you don’t have to—“_ he began. Toriel cut him off with a wave.

“Don’t worry, WingDings. It’s all right,” she said reassuringly. “And on top of that, you need to eat. Did you have breakfast this morning?”

_“...Yes.”_ He lied, not very convincingly. Toriel shook her head.

“I don’t want to keep worrying about you, WingDings,” she said. “Go put Papyrus to sleep.”

Gaster left the room silently. Asgore tried to speak up again as Toriel began preparing something.

“Toriel, please,” he began. “If you’re going to live with us again, you can’t ignore me forever.”

“I said enough, Asgore.” she said, her voice laced with annoyance. “You could have taken the first SOUL and left, killing seven humans from the village and freeing us. But instead you decide to stay here and let us rot, waiting and hoping desperately that another human doesn’t come.”

“Tori, please—“

“Don’t ‘Tori’ me!” She exclaimed, a bit impulsively, her magic flaring up. Her face softened. “Please just understand that I can’t forgive you and I never will.”

Asgore looked away. The heartbroken look on his face made Toriel feel a bit bad for being harsh. But she had to make it clear. If he couldn’t understand, it would’ve been hard for her to stay. But by the defeat in Asgore’s expressions and movement, she got the idea that he understood the concept very well. And if he could accept that concept, then it was good enough for her.

She turned back to the now burnt meal on the countertop and threw it away, not bothering to give it a second glance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My chapters are so short hhhhh


	5. You Should Know

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gaster assumes that Alphys would rather hear it from him than someone else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the support again. Have another (painfully short :<) chapter!

“H-Hang on,” Alphys called out to her ringing phone. She paused the anime that she had been watching on her laptop and picked it up. “O-Oh, D-Dr. Gaster! How are you?”

_“I’m doing fine,”_ Gaster signed as Alphys watched his hands move from over the phone. _“Alphys, I—I need to show you something. Something important that you deserve to know.”_

“Oh! H-Hang on, i’ll get to the lab—“ she began. Gaster’s voice interrupted her, and she almost forgot to look at his signing.

_“No. It’s not at the lab,”_ Gaster signed. _“I...Could you come to Snowdin, possibly? It’s likely quite an inconvenience, but is something that you have to know.”_

“N-No, it—it’s fine! I wasn’t doing anything important anyway!” Alphys started immediately. Cutting herself off, she added, “I’ll be there as soon as I can!”

Hanging up the phone, Gaster put his face in his hands (which proved not to be very comforting at all) and remained in the position until he heard his co-worker’s nervous knocking on his door. He stood up to open it, with Alphys wringing her gloved hands.

_“Come with me,”_ Gaster signed as Alphys got rid of her winter clothes, heading into another room. Alphys followed him inside, and stopped dead.

“Babies!” Alphys squealed, nearly jumping up and down. Gaster attempted to cut her off, a bright blush growing on his cheekbones.

_“Please calm down,”_ he signed a bit frantically. _“They’re only children, and you’re going to wake them up.”_

“Ghhh—“ Alphys shook her hands in giddiness, but took care to quiet down a bit. “—you’re getting all flustered about them too, this is so cute!”

_“Alphys, please,”_ Gaster began again, his face still red. _“Please calm down.”_ Alphys shut herself up, and just listened. Gaster continued to speak. _“I made them, yes. No, I do not have any partner. They were...They...They weren’t meant to be...here.”_ He said nothing else. Alphys was silent for a bit.

“Could I...Could I hold one of them?” She asked nervously. Gaster handed her Sans, and she held him as carefully as he could. Now that the shock had worn off, the gears in her head began to turn. How did he do it? He just said he had no partner. There was no way to do it otherwise—right? Was this what he was working on the whole time? Was this—

Her eyes fell on the holes in his hands. She felt her face fall a bit. As much as she didn’t agree with the fact, she was smart. She was smarter than she had ever accepted. Those holes were because of the skeletons. Of course. She looked down at the sleeping Sans in her arms.

“Uh...D-Dr. Gaster?” She began. “Why did you have babies if you didn’t want them? I-It couldn’t have been an accident, if...”

Gaster’s hands twitched involuntarily. 

“D-Dr. Gaster?” Alphys continued awkwardly. “A-Are you alright? You don’t look...well.”

_“I’m fine,”_ he replied, in a bit of a clinical tone that Alphys wasn’t used to. _“Don’t worry about me.”_

Alphys handed Sans back over silently, thoughts still running through her head.

How was she _not_ supposed to worry?


	6. Sleep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A child has a nightmare. His father has to help.

Gaster was skipping sleep. Again.

Asgore would’ve told him not to. Toriel would’ve told him to stop being silly and go to bed. But he had work to do, and sleep wasn’t very important at the moment.

He had been walking back from the kitchen with his 5th mug of coffee when he heard crying coming from the children’s bedroom. He glanced at his watch.

_1:37 AM_

It was a good thing he was still awake. Gaster took a long sip from his mug before letting out a soft sigh and heading to the bedroom.

Sans was fast asleep, which was a bit of a surprise. Perhaps he was a heavy sleeper. Gaster headed over to Papyrus, who was crying in his crib. He picked him up and held the baby in front of him.

“Why are you crying so loudly?” He asked softly, despite the fact that Papyrus couldn’t have answered. “I’m trying to work, you know. I can’t do that with your wailing.”

Papyrus calmed down enough to reach for his father. There were still tears rolling down his cheekbones. Gaster gave another nearly silent sigh and held the child in his arms. Papyrus nestled into his arms, but continued to cry. A thought came to Gaster’s head that he couldn’t push away.

_Would it work if I glowed at him?_

Gaster doubted it would work. He wasn’t even sure that he  _could_   glow—he was too emotionally detached, in his opinion. But when he felt the warmth building up in his eye sockets, and the soft yellow glow illuminating the room, and Papyrus glowing orange in return...

Papyrus calmed down until all that was left was his soft breathing, and occasionally a noise when he moved. Gaster put Papyrus back into his crib, and left the room. He finished off his mug and sat back down at his desk to continue where he left off.

After a few minutes of staring at the work in front of him, he put his head in his arms, leaning on the table.

Work could wait. Right now, he was tired, and he had to rethink a few things.


	7. Magic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans is a strange child. Everyone knew that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The idea for this chapter actually came from one of my internet friends. I’d like to thank her for giving me this idea, because without it this chapter would have taken a lot longer to write.

In his opinion, Sans was a strange child.

Now, Gaster didn’t know how an infant was supposed to function. The only other child he’d seen had been Asriel, and the King and Queen hadn’t really trusted Gaster to care for him (not that he had minded that at all; he was bad with children in the first place). But he was pretty sure that babies weren’t supposed to sleep for the entire day, or eat minimally, or barely move, or almost never cry at all.

Papyrus was very energetic for his age, but was mostly very normal. Sans barely did anything. At times, Gaster caught himself worrying that Sans wouldn’t wake up, casting involuntary glances at the sleeping infant until he shook himself out of his nonsensical worrying. When Asgore came to him, asking to know where Sans was, he was hit by both terrible nervousness and extreme confusion.

_“But I remember putting him in the bed,”_ Gaster signed, a bit shakily. _“I remember it clearly.”_

“But Sans is gone,” Asgore repeated, beginning to look around the room. “He’s not sleeping in his crib.”

_“Sans barely moves,”_ WingDings signed back, also getting up and trying to search. _“Let alone climbs out of his bed and crawls away.”_

Asgore continued his search without a response, before doing a double take and reaching behind the television to quickly pull out Sans, who was sleeping just like always.

“How did he get behind the TV?” Asgore inquired. “It’s not like anybody would put him there...”

Gaster was shaking as he took Sans in his arms, trying to block out the horrible thoughts racing through his mind. What if he was tangled in the wires in his sleep and suffocated? What if he had been electrocuted somehow? What if—

_“I’m going to put him back to bed,”_ Gaster signed, before leaving the room immediately.

Several times after that incident, Sans had been disappearing and reappearing in random places during his sleep. Asgore had caught him from nearly rolling off the top of the fridge. Toriel found him sleeping in a kitchen cabinet while trying to cook. Gaster had found him curled up in the sink. More often than anything else, however, Sans would be put to bed and found a while later sleeping with his brother instead.

It was magic. Gaster was sure of it.

Toriel and Asgore thought nothing when he decided to install cameras in the children’s bedroom.


	8. More Magic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Camera watching and note taking isn’t something that Gaster abandons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is really short (a little disappointing, maybe). It follows directly after the events of the previous chapter; it’s more of an extra continuation. This is a look at Gaster’s notes.

** _Entry Number [Null]_ **

_I was not planning on taking notes. However, these two are much too fascinating._

_Using the cameras, I was able to capture instances of magic from both children. Judging from what I have seen so far, Sans has to ability to teleport from one place to another, which explains why we’ve been finding him in such strange places. Occasionally, he will teleport into his brother’s bed while the two of them sleep. This happens more and more often now._

_Papyrus, on the other hand, has not showcased any evidence of teleportation. Instead, he can sometimes be found levitating a few inches off the ground, or moving through the air. He does not seem to be able to control this, however, as he still collapses normally when weakly attempting to crawl._

_ Neither of the children have summoned attacks at all, whether on purpose or by accident. This is normal for their age, however. I do not expect them to summon attacks until a few years down the line. They both glow often; but mostly at each other and at me.  ~~ I didn’t remember how nice it felt to be glowed at ~~ Any other magical abilities have yet to have shown themselves. I will be watching at the cameras when they appear._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The “Entry Number [Null]” is less because he doesn’t exist and more of “I didn’t know what number to put there”.


	9. Rattle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nostalgic noises tend to be quite the distraction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry this chapter took so long to do. I couldn’t focus for a while, and ended up procrastinating. It’s pretty short (again), but here!

Gaster found himself paying a bit more attention to the children than he was to his work. Often, he would catch himself watching Papyrus attempt to crawl around the room with mild interest instead of trying to fix the energy bursts and magic fluctuations in the CORE.

Yet, it still felt nice to watch them mess around.

Papyrus sat on the floor, tracing his tiny fingers through the dark blue and pink carpet, waving his limbs around at random as Gaster worked and Asgore made tea in the kitchen. Eventually, Papyrus’ movements grew faster, waving his arms around and shaking, until—

The familiar sound made Gaster shiver and look up.

Papyrus was sitting on the floor of the room, giggling and rattling his bones enthusiastically.

_Rattling his bones._

“You’ve missed that sound, haven’t you?” Asgore asked softly, walking into the room with two cups of golden flower tea. Gaster looked up and adjusted his glasses, flushing slightly.

_“It—It just brings back memories, that’s all,”_ he signed quickly, mumbling and taking one of the cups. _“After all, I haven’t heard another skeleton rattle since...”_

He shook his head and turned back to the readings. Despite Gaster’s attempts to pay attention to his work, Asgore didn’t miss the soft, fond smiles that appeared on the skeleton’s face every time he looked up afterward.


	10. Words

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finished the chapter! I finally finished it! This took WAY longer than it should have (especially since all these chapters are so short), and for that i’m really sorry. I hope you enjoy it.

“Shush,” Asgore said gently, holding the crying baby in his arms. “It’s alright.”

_“Your Majesty?”_ Gaster asked, setting the CORE readings aside. _“What is it?”_

“I think he’s sleepy, poor thing,” Asgore replied, rocking the child in his arms. “It’s still strange to see him smile and cry at the same time...”

_“Yes, I know,”_ Gaster signed back quickly, reaching his arms out. _“Let me take him.”_

“Are you sure you have this under control?” Asgore asked nervously. “I mean—“

_“Yes, it’s alright,”_ he signed in response, taking Sans in his hands and addressing the child in a softer tone. “You know, it’s not very much like you at all to spend energy crying instead of just sleeping.”

Asgore smiled a bit in what seemed to be relief as Sans’s crying started to slow and instead turn into tearful babbling. Gaster kept mumbling as Asgore left the room.

“Shush now,” he continued. “No more tears.”

“da...dada...da,” Sans began repeating between sobs, reaching for the skeleton. “dadada!”

The wave of shock didn’t hit him until a few moments later.

All other noise sounded muffled and distant. His mind swirled; emotions he couldn’t identify made his chest feel tight, and admittedly a bit warm. He never wanted the feeling to go away, but at the same time—

“Gaster, you’re _glowing_ ,” Asgore said a bit disbelievingly, coming back into the room and snapping him out of his thoughts. “What’s got you so—”

Gaster looked away quickly, holding the child— _his_ child —in his arms carefully, trying his best to keep a straight face.

_“Nothing, your Majesty,”_ he signed back. _“Everything’s fine.”_

The warm feeling stayed with him for the rest of the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter topic was requested to me by a friend. To be honest, if anyone else thinks of chapter requests i’d be glad to write them; it would really help.


End file.
